Hobby's health benefits not just for the birds

1of 4Winter bird-watching is a great way to relax and get exercise. Birds including this yellow-rumped warbler are easy to see in barren trees.Photo: Kathy Adams Clark

2of 4Winter bird-watching is a great way to relax and get exercise. Birds like this yellow-bellied sapsucker are easy to see in barren trees. Photo Credit: Kathy Adams Clark. Restricted use.Photo: Kathy Adams Clark

Make bird-watching one of your 2018 resolutions. It sharpens the mind, and offers exercise and relaxation.

Bird-watching takes you on long walks in the neighborhood or park while your body burns 100 calories per hour. Though it's not an aerobic routine, it serves as a fun way to burn calories. Especially after the holidays.

Besides, winter is a great time to take a bird-watching stroll. Trees barren of leaves make it easy to spot migrant birds who have arrived here for the winter - including yellow-bellied sapsuckers, yellow-rumped warblers and American goldfinches.

Look for chipping sparrows on lawns and in short-grass fields.

Although petite pine warblers with green and yellow colors are here all year, they normally remain high in the pines. In winter, though, they dangle on the lower branches or drop down to feed in the grass.

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Bird-watching to-do list

A Get a pair of binoculars.

A Buy a bird book. I shamelessly recommend "Book of Texas Birds," by Gary Clark with photography by Kathy Adams Clark (Texas A&M University Press, $39.95.)

A Study the bird book before heading out.

A Look carefully at every bird you find during your bird-watching walk.

A Carry a notepad and jot down the birds you see.

A If you don't know a bird's name, describe it or draw a rudimentary picture noting body shape, size, color and beak shape - and describe the song or call.

A Back home, look up the birds you saw in your bird book and learn more about them.

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Lift those binoculars to get a better look at birds such as titmice, chickadees and woodpeckers. Of course, it's not bona fide weight lifting, but it helps your flexibility. (Remember my horrible bicycle accident last summer? Badly busted up right hand, arm,and shoulder, among other injuries. Advice from the physical therapist: Lift your binoculars!)

Admonitions abound about mental fitness as you age, and you'll definitely sharpen your mind by learning the variant calls and musical rhythms of songbirds. The skill involves complex cognitive functions and revitalizes the brain's neural pathways.

But don't overload your brain by trying to learn every birdsong at once. Start by learning a Carolina wren's 50 songs and calls in all their variations; that will keep your brain charged up all year.

Figure out the sounds a mockingbird mimics - hint: It's not only sounds of other birds. That'll give your brain a good workout.

Aside from brain training, the harmony of birdsong reaches deep into our ancestral DNA to recover feelings of joy that have long comforted people.

Which brings me to advice about relaxation, most of which involves meditation. Though my mind usually wonders, when I'm bird-watching, I'm focused on soothing thoughts, excluding all else.

I stand at a window with a cup of coffee as the morning dawns and birds begin to sing. My mind hums an old spiritual with the words, "My Lord, what a morning." Nothing else matters.

Gary Clark is the weekly nature columnist for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He also publishes feature articles in state and national magazines and has written four books: "Texas Wildlife Portfolio," "Texas Gulf Coast Impressions," "Backroads of the Texas Hill Country" and "Enjoying Big Bend National Park." Gary is also a contributing author in the book, "Pride of Place: A Contemporary Anthology of Texas Nature Writing."

He has won eight Lone Star College writing awards and is the recipient of the Houston Audubon Society 2004 Excellence in Media Award and the Citizens' Environmental Coalition 2010 Synergy Media Award for Environmental Reporting.

Gary is professor of business and developmental studies at Lone Star College--North Harris. In 32 years at the college, Gary has served as vice president of instruction; dean of Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences; associate dean of Natural Sciences; professor of marketing; professor of developmental writing; and Faculty Senate president. He is a recipient of the Teacher Excellence Award.

Gary has been active in the birding community for more than 30 years. He founded the Piney Woods Wildlife Society in 1982 and the Texas Coast Rare Bird Alert in 1983. He served as president of the Houston Audubon Society 1989-1991 and purchased the North American Rare Bird Alert for Houston Audubon in 1990. He was vice president of the Board of Directors for the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 2001-2008. He currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Houston Audubon Society and Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. He is also a member of the American Mensa Society.